Bloomberg News
China's economy has grown faster than the US's every year for more than four decades, a point of pride in Beijing. China may undershoot its rival for the first time since 1976.
The world's second-largest economy will grow 2% this year, compared with the US's 2.8%. The US is being propelled by strong hiring and consumer spending even as it struggles with high inflation.
China's per-capita GDP is well below the US.
The International Monetary Fund has a World Economic Outlook database.
A 2% growth rate is important. The government has only ever missed its goal once, and barely at that, so it would be a far cry from Beijing's target of 5.5%.
The Chinese Communist Party has a right to rule because it has promised to deliver peace, prosperity and stability. Despite being a crucial year forXi as he seeks an unprecedented third term, Russia's war in Ukraine is hurting demand from trading partners.
Concerns over the nation's economy have given new prominence to Li Keqiang, who was often kept out of the public eye. Li held an emergency meeting with thousands of officials from local governments, state-owned companies and financial firms, calling on them to do more to stabilizing growth.
Chinese stocks posted a mild gain Thursday after Li called for action. That is better than what happened earlier in the week, whenequities fell after Beijing rolled out a large economic package.
Stimulus drives seem to be ineffectiveness compared to getting clarity on when lockdowns will end. The city reopened some schools after a three-month shutdown. Beijing remains in Covid limbo, with officials punished for the recent outbreak.
The sad reality is that monetary easing doesn't buy much beyond a boost for the ailing property sector.
It is not out of whack with what major Wall Street firms are predicting. The easing likely won't be as rapid as it was in 2020 given the nature of the omicron variant, according to the analysts.
China's growth is expected to be below target for the first time in four years.
China's National People's Congress documents are from a survey.
It is too early to say if the Chinese government will reach its target this year. All the stops could be pulled to avoid failure. He could gamble that missing the target is a major political risk. A key Communist Party document published last year stated that GDP growth shouldn't be the sole criterion of success.
President Joe Biden visited Asia for the first time since taking office, but nobody seemed particularly pleased with the outcome.
Biden provoked Beijing with a vow to defend Taiwan. When asked if the US would act to defend Taiwan, he said yes.
The White House officials said the president was only promising aid to help Taiwan defend itself. While Biden's comment opens him up to criticism by domestic political opponents who have sought to portray him as not fit for office, others think it may be a smart strategy.
The comments by Biden are starting to seem like a deliberate effort to strengthen deterrence without the costs of changing America's stance.
His new strategic framework for the region was upstaged by that remark.
TheFramework to bind the economies of Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, along with seven Southeast Asian countries, was mildly worded. Fair and resilient trade is one of the four pillars of the Intellectual Property Enlightenment.
The US and a dozen other countries will join in an economic initiative.
The source is Bloomberg.
Unlike the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which included tariff reductions, the IPEF doesn't, and it's unclear which parts are binding, making it hard to quantify economic benefits. The initiative that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said was doomed to fail was questioned by Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
As an attempt to counter Beijing's influence, the Intellectual Property Enforcement Fund falls far short of what is needed.
China and Russia sent Biden a message not to let the door hit him on the way out.
The good news is here. China's Generation Z is willing to spend their money. They are the top buyers of everything from cosmetics to tourism services.
Less inclined to have kids or buy property, which are both becoming increasingly unaffordable, they spend on themselves and about a quarter don't save, compared to the global average of 15%, according to an OC&C report. Their spending is expected to rise fourfold to over two trillion dollars by the year 2035.
The hard part. They are becoming more nationalist and are willing to ignore foreign labels. Western companies are on a delicate footing. The backlash against H&M and Nike was driven by young Chinese who were upset with the companies for condemning the use of Xinjiang cotton. The latter has yet to recover.
China's Gen Z population is smaller than India's, but they're much bigger spenders.
The United Nations is the source.
After China started to open up in the late 1970s, Western brands such as McDonald's and Starbucks dominated the market. Unlike their parents, China's Gen Z is not impressed by products because they are foreign.
Sarah Lin, a student in Beijing, says her parents still think items with foreign-language labels are premium. She realized that many brands considered high end in China are mass-market at home. She is happy to buy domestic names.
That's music to the ears of brands such as Anta Sports and Li Ning, which have seen their sneaker sales jump after the outcry. Chinese brands have adapted well to new sales channels such as livestreaming.
Gen Z is the first real consumer generation in China, according to Zak Dychtwald, founder of Young China Group.
A few other stories caught our attention.
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